The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has concluded that if the entire passenger car population were in compliance with the respective standards, an interlock belt system would annually save 7,000 lives and prevent 340,000 injuries. However, the interlock regulation has been revoked and interlocks will not be required on 1975 automobiles or thereafter. This leaves us concerned with a question about the 7,000 lives and the 340,000 injuries, and a more objective question: how can the driving population be motivated to wear their auto safety harnesses?
It appears that neither regulations nor public interest television safety programming have convinced the majority of American motorists that wearing seat belts and shoulder belts is important to their safety. Yet there is a reasonble probability that drivers could be motivated to wear their seat belts and shoulder belts if some additional, highly functional, device could be added to their shoulder belts as an easily attached accessory which would capture the interest of motorists and appeal to their sense of practicality. The shoulder belt, when it is worn by the driver is a most convenient location for attaching a container which would hold anything that the driver might want to have readily available such as bridge and turnpike tolls, credit cards and the like.
It is contemplated that the invention described in this application, namely, an attachable compartment for the holding of toll coins, bills, cards and a simple computer will provide the margin of interest in using the shoulder belt for the additional function of having these conveniences closely located and readily accessible to the driver. It is also hoped that by having these items readily accessible that it will not be necessary for the driver to disconnect his shoulder belt and/or seat belt to locate toll coins or bills.
There will be approximately one hundred million automobiles that are equipped with shoulder belts, registered in the United States by 1977. Hopefully, most of the drivers who might be killed or injured every year, through neglecting to wear their seat/shoulder belt systems, will voluntarily wear their shoulder belts because the convenience in wearing the shoulder belts equipped with the toll containers outweighs the inconvenience of putting the belts on.
Therefore, this invention is directed to increasing the use of shoulder belts through the margin of utility provided by this detachable toll container accessory for the great majority of drivers who will ride in shoulder belt equipped automobiles for the next decade.
One of the reasons shoulder belts are left disconnected is that many gentlemen drivers carry their toll change in containers that are not always easily reached such as their wallet pockets thus the belts must be disconnected in order to obtain toll money. Lady drivers often have to reach for a pocketbook that is just beyond their grasp because the pocketbook or change purse may have slid out of immediate reach in the normal course of driving and slowing down for toll stations. It is accordingly an objective of this invention to provide means for making toll change readily accessible without disconnecting the protective belts.
A study report was delivered in November 1974 by Man Factors, Inc. of San Diego, California, to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation titled Sources and Remedies for Restraint System Discomfort and Inconveniences. DOT HS-801 277. Page 132 of the study contained the following statements:
"1. The equipment worn by police officers while on duty presents a number of problems in the use of a standard 1974 seat-belt system. Weapons and badges become entangled in the belt during doffing, at times preventing the officer from making a rapid exit. Access to weapons is sometimes restricted while the system is being worn. And difficulties in donning can cause a critical delay in an emergency start. For the time being at least we do not believe law enforcement personnel should be required to wear seat belt, but should be allowed to use them as they see fit for a given situation. It is strongly recommended that a study be undertaken to determine the extent and nature of the restrictions in seat-belt usage imposed by police equipment with the objective of providing a basis for the development of an alternate system designed to accommodate the special police situation."
Thus, another objective of this invention is to provide on a shoulder strap a mounting for a holster for a police officer's service pistol.